Autumn Colours at Marks Hall, Essex

6th October 20185th September 2018 By cpadmin

Autumn Colours at Marks Hall, Essex

Autumn Colours at Marks Hall, Essex. The calm water in the upper lake at Marks Hall facilitates these lovely reflections on this autumn day in October 2017.

A dust cloud provided unusual weather that day by making the sun go bright orange in the afternoon, like a sunset (see additional image below). You can also see how “pink” the sky is in this image. The trees which form the backdrop to the image are just “turning” as the sap is cut off to the extremities and the leaves become golden.

Vibrant colours

The white pampas grass and the fiery red bush next to it create vibrant contrasts to the greenery above. They add the same vibrancy with their reflections in the green coloured water. These reflections draw the eye into the water to the three arches which form the overflow to control the level of the lake. The arches and the brickwork alongside them are reflected perfectly in the water. The vertical lines of the weeping willow also appear in the water.

Bushes on the path have been used to frame the image. As the dust cloud crosses the sun in different densities, changing the colour of the sun as it passes

Lurking in the bushes!

This image was captured from the bushes on the long side of the lake. It uses the power of the superzoom lens to bring the main features of the image nearer

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V, Tamron 16-300mm

Settings: F8 1/100 ISO 320

Startling starlings in St James Park London

29th September 201829th September 2018 By cpadmin

Shru saw these startling starlings on a walk through St James park in London. This park is beautiful and is always busy with tourists, school groups, people lunching or exercising. If you are lucky you can even see starling bathing in St James Lake.

You will have to work hard to see some of the birds, they are so well camouflaged against the background of the water and the gravel under it

These starling were out in large groups in the midday sun to either cool down or just have a wash. They were swooping in turns.

The eye is lead in from the diagonally from the bottom right and the top left.

Canon EOS 7D Mark II EF-S 18-135mm IS STM

F5.6 1/3200 ISO 1250

Agapanthus

26th September 201826th September 2018 By cpadmin

One of the last flowers of summer

Two similar images of the blue Agapanthus outside the front of our house. It will be one of the last flowers of the summer!

Agapanthus

It will be one of the last blooms of summer this year. The background is the cream external wall of our house. This gives a warm feel to the image and contrasts nicely with the bright blue petals of the flower. These strikingly beautiful plants originate from South Africa and are often called African Lillies. They are also found in profusion on the Scilly Isles. The leaves are said to be “strappy” and the whole plant has a statuesque air to it.

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V, Tamron 16-300mm

Settings: F5.6 1/2000 ISO 100

Battle of Britain Day at the IWM

15th September 2018 By cpadmin

Hurricane flypast on Battle of Britain Day

Battle of Britain Day at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford in 2015. A fly past by a Hawker Hurricane in level flight before making a turn to land.

Most of the ground crew have turned to watch the plane on that September Saturday, just before the main event started. The bright day is reflected in the colour of the grass, with some of the foliage turning to autumnal colours. Ploughed fields are also ready for the next crop.

Composition wise, I would like to have had the wing on the bottom right corner out of the way and the full wing of the parked aircraft in the foreground of the image. However, the Hurricanes don’t run to a schedule, and when standing in a crowd it is not always easy to compose the perfect image as they fly past. Note the group in the distance at the other side of the airfield. They are people who are seeing the show without paying!

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V, Tamron 16-300mm

Settings: F6.3 1/1000 ISO 100

Battle of Britain Day

15th September 201815th September 2018 By cpadmin

Hurricane flypast on Battle of Britain Day

Battle of Britain Day at the Imperial War Museum at Duxford in 2015. A fly past by a Hawker Hurricane in level flight before making a turn to land. Most of the ground crew have turned to watch the plane on that September Saturday, just before the main event started. The bright day is reflected in the colour of the grass, with some of the foliage turning to autumnal colours. Ploughed fields are also ready for the next crop.

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V, Tamron 16-300mm

Settings: F6.3 1/1000 ISO 100

Sunflowers in September

3rd September 20183rd September 2018 By cpadmin

Sunflowers in September – Four Images

Its really nice to have the sunflowers in September. The warm very weather which limited the life of the blooms in July and August has subsided. Now we have the cooler mornings and evenings but still warm days where you only need a tee-shirt! Four images from my garden are attached to this post.

Little Leo Cluster

Firstly we have the “Little Leo” sunflowers (2 feet high) in a large tub. Originally their heads were 5 inches across and as each one dies it is cut off and another one appears. The flowers get smaller each time and are now only two inches diameter! They keep coming though. Cropped to a square image.

Sunflowers in September — Little Leo Sunflowers

Copper Coloured Sunflowers

I’m ashamed to say I threw the packet away so I don’t know the name of this variety which arrived free in a magazine last year! However its mage some lovely copper and yellow coloured flower petals on plants up to four feet high. It’s almost as if someone has dusted the petals with brown paint! There are nice yellow and brown colours in the centre disc florets too

Turning 90 degrees we see the second sunflower on this plant and in the background a profusion of colours from the pots and pouches in the garden

A close up of Little Leo

A close up of Little LeoHere you can see the stamens in the centre of the flower and a drop or two of water on the petals

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V, Tamron 16-300mm

Different aperture and shutter speed settings

Passion Flower Fruit Parade

2nd September 20182nd September 2018 By cpadmin

The Fruit of the Passion Flower at dusk

Three images form our Passion Flower Fruit Parade. Sitting in my garden last night as the light was going – the nights are drawing in! I noticed that the fruit of the passion-flower (Passiflora caerulea) was turning an incandescent orange colour. The ripe fruit almost looks like a light bulb in this shady are a of the garden. The first image shows the fruit emerging from the flower bud.

The exquisite white, yellow and blue flowers often produce these egg shaped fruits, which when ripe are edible and quite tasty! These tow images show a ripe fruit on the left and an unripe fruit hanging on the right hand side. The veins in the leaf are also visible. The passionflower plant is an annoying one. It produces amazing flowers, however it has a straggly uncontrollable untidy habit of growing in all directions at the same time. It also produces the curly offshoots which it uses to grip to other plants and the trellis

1066 and all that! Image of the week

18th August 201818th August 2018 By cpadmin

1066 and all that! Image of the week

1066 and all that! Three images from Battle Abbey. Re-visited this site last week and captured three images.

First image.

Down the hill from the Abbey is a large pond surrounded by greenery of all kinds. In terms of composition the greenery frames the image and the reflections of the bushes on the other side of the pond add reflections in the water. These reflections appear to be “under” the waterlilies. I first went here on holiday in 2011 and “snapped” an image. Went back last week to take more care and secure a really good version of the image.

Second image

This image reflects English Heritage’s view that the long bowmen of William the Conqueror let their arrows fly from this sort of position. Of course the Castle or Abbey was not there in 1066, however I thought it made a nice image. I understand that there is a view that this location was not the location of the battle of Hastings anyway!

Third Image

Having walked around the site I climbed to the top of the gatehouse part of the Castle and turned my camera to the distance. There is a nice view over the weald which is yellow as the crops have been cut. Interestingly for mid-August it is possible to see that the trees are turning after a long period with temperatures over 30 degrees C.

Battle Abbey

English Heritage are the custodians of Battle Abbey click on link to find out more

Equipment

For all three shots: Sony SLT-A65V, Tamron 16-300mm, plus tripod

First Image Settings: F6.3 1/400 ISO 100

Second Image Settings: F6.3 1/640 ISO 100

Third Image Settings: F6.3 1/500 ISO 100

Image of the week. Circular Symmetry – Dungeness

12th August 2018 By cpadmin

Circular Symmetry – Dungeness

Circular Symmetry – Dungeness, two images attached. This is one of my favourite images. It is composed to reflect the symmetrical nature of the view from the external balcony at Dungeness lighthouse. The lighthouse itself is of course “round” and surrounded by a circular wall. Paths lead to and from the circular 19^th century keepers building at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o’clock. A pair of 20^th century bungalows were later built for the keepers. They and the attendant outhouses are equally placed on both sides at symmetrical angles from the centre of the older circular accommodation building. The chimney pots on the older building are almost equidistant from its centre which has a small glass atrium.

The manmade elements of the image form smooth textures which contrast with the puckered texture of the tufty grass. Built in 1901 and first lit in 1904 this is the 6^th of seven Dungeness lighthouses. The climb to the top is well worth the view as the second image shows. The terminus of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway forms added attraction on site. Click link to railway.

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V, Tamron 16-300mm (Round house shot)

Settings: F7.1 1/500 ISO 100

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V, Sigma 8-16mm (Distance shot)

Settings: F7.1 1/800 ISO 100

Harvesting action – three different images

4th August 2018 By cpadmin

Harvesting action

Harvesting action. Last year I found a Combined Harvester and a grain truck in action last summer near Hatfield Perverel in Essex. To locate them it was necessary to follow the grain truck down the twisty lanes.

I particularly like the one where the Combine is charging towards the camera throwing out clouds of dust on both sides.

In the second image the grain twists and turns like a liquid as it falls from the shoot of the Combine.

The dust from the rear of the Combine tells us that the motion is continuous. In the third shot the combine almost disappears in the cloud of dust. You can also see how it hoovers up the crop. The summer weather was glorious, but unlike this year there had been a shower earlier in the day and proceedings had been halted until the crop dried.

Equipment: Sony SLT-A65V, Tamron 16-300mm

Settings: F9 1/320 ISO 100

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Autumn Colours at Marks Hall, Essex